Monday, February 16, 2015

Garver Chief Operating Officer Brock Hoskins recently sat down with the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal to discuss his career since the newspaper recognized him as a member of its 1999 Forty Under 40 class.

“Garver has given me the opportunity to grow just as fast as I could stand it,” Brock told the paper. “Opportunities to grow professionally that I have been completely satisfied with. There isn’t another [job] circumstance that could attract me. I love Garver.”

Click here to go to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal website and read the entire article on Brock.

The accelerated bridge project over Cottonwood Creek replaced a deteriorating bridge on Highway 51 in Creek County, Oklahoma. Typically, replacing a bridge on the existing alignment requires an extended highway closure while the new structure is built, meaning added travel time and fuel costs to motorists. To reduce the time and money spent because of highway closure, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) decided to evaluate the use of accelerated bridge construction (ABC) methods on the Cottonwood Creek project to potentially use elsewhere around the state. This was the first time such methods have been used in the state.

Garver provided design for the bridge to be constructed in a manner that limited roadway closure to a total of 11 days instead of an estimated six months. The three spans of the new bridge were constructed on temporary structures next to the old structure, and the permanent piers were constructed beneath the bridge as it remained in service. When the spans were complete, the highway was closed for 11 days while the old bridge was demolished and the new bridge spans were slowly slid into place on the same alignment.

As an innovative project, the Cottonwood Creek bridge is a resounding success for ODOT and for the citizens of Oklahoma. The transverse-slide method used in construction saved motorists an estimated $2 million in time and fuel costs, which would have been expended during a normal closure. While this method of construction costs more than a conventional construction, the project's reduction in user costs, decreased use of and wear on detour routes, and improvements in work zone safety set a standard for future bridge construction projects in Oklahoma.

The project was also recently featured in Aspire, The Concrete Bridge Magazine. View the magazine by clicking here, and look for the Cottonwood Creek feature on Page 20.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Crews recently brought down the main span of the Fairfax Bridge using explosives. The bridge was built in 1933 and spanned the Missouri River and connected Riverside, Missouri with Kansas City, Kansas via U.S. Route 69.

The Missouri Department of Transportation selected American Bridge and Garver to perform a $72 million design-build project to replace the bridge. The construction of the new bridge is scheduled to be completed in December 2016.